Ratchet-control mechanism



1,598,374 D. HINDAHL RATCHET CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Nov. l5. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 31, 1926.

Aug. 31, 1926.

D. HINDAHL RATCHET CONTROL MECHANISM 'Filed Nov. l5. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 31, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID HINDAHL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO RODGER BALLAST CAB COM- IPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

RATCI-IET-CONTROL MECHANISM.

Application filed November 15, 1924. Serial No. 750,078.

The present invention relates toI ratchet control mechanism.

More particularly/f the present invention relates t0 ratchet control mechanism such as is used in operating the dump doors of railway dump cars. In certain types of dump car in common use the closing of the dump doors is accomplished by means of ratchet mechanism, a pawl being provided for engagement with a ratchet wheel toin'ipart a rotary movement to the shaft. Commonly said ratchet mechanism is not relied upon to hold the doors in closed position, for the reason that after the load is applied didiculty is encountered in releasing said ratchet mechanism. Even though said ratchet mechanism is not relied upon to hold the doors in closed position, diiliculty is often encountered by lreason of the fact that the operator will, through inadvertence omit to release said ratchet mechanism, so that after a load is applied said mechanism may be released only With great difficulty.

An` object of the present invention is to provide ratchet control mechanism which Will be automatically released from holding` position relative to the member operated Whenever said ratchet mechanism is moved to inoperative position.

A further object is to provide ratchetcontrol mechanism which will render it practically impossible for an operator to leave said ratchet control mechanism in holding osition after the ratcheting operation has geen accomplished.

-A further object is to provide ratchet control mechanism Which, after the ratcheting operation has been accomplished, Will leave the o erating member in obtrusive position.

A urther object is to provide door closing and holding means for a railway dump car bymeans of which the dump doors of said car may be ratcheted to closed position and whereby a releasing operation may be accomplished with a minimum of difliculty.

Further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

Referring to the drawings- Figure 1 is a side View of a part of a railway dump car embodying the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the plane indicated by the arrows 2-2 of Figure 1 and showing the ratcheting mechanism in inoperative position;

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken along the saine plane as in Figure 2 but representing the ratcheting mechanism in operative position; Y

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken alon the plane indicated by the arrows 4 4 o Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the plane indicated by the arrows 5 5 of Figure 2.

The numeral 1 indicates the side Wall ot a railway dump car, and the numeral 2 indicates a dump door on one side of the longitudinal center line of said car for dumping lading laterally of the tracks upon which said car is mounted. It will be understood that the dump doors 2 Will be arranged along both sides of the longitudinal center line of the car, symmetrically disposed relative to said center line. Said dump doors 2 may be controlled by chains 3 3, which are operated by the shaft 4 extending longitudinally of the car. It will be undertsood that the chains 3 3 on one side of the car will be operated by one shaft 4, and the chains 3 3 on the opposite side of the car will be operated by another shaft 4. A description of the operating mechanism for one of said shafts will be sufficient for a disclosure of the present invention. Nonrotatably mounted upon the shaft 4 is the ratchet Wheel 5, which may be rotated in a direction to wind up the chains 3 3 by mechanism Which will now be described.

Concentrically mounted with the shaft 4 is the bent lever 6, which lever is rotatable relative to said shaft 4. Pivotally secured to the lever 6 is the pawl 7, which is mounted upon-the pintle 8 and which is biased toward engaging position by means of the Weighted end 9. The bent lever 6 has an arm 10 adapted when in inoperative position to lie in proximity to the side Wall 1 of the car within the overall dimensions of the car, including the stake 11. Secured to the side Wall 1 of the car isa catch member 12 of Z-shaped conformation, one end of which is riveted to the side wall 1 and the other end of which (indicated by the numeral 13) is adapted to form an abutment holding the lever arm 10 (when said lever arm is in inoperative position) againstl movement transversely of the car. In order to permit the movement of the lever arm 10 into a position beneath the catch member 12 and to a position free of said catch member, the lever 6 should be loosely mounted upon the shaft 4, permitting a sliding movement of the lever arm 10 through a limited degree in a direction longitudinally of the car. In order to hold the lever arm 10 in position Within the catch member 12, a cam member 14 may be provided, which may be pivotally mounted to move in a plane parallel with the car wall 1, said pivotal mounting being provided by the pintle 15. The details of the cam member for holding the lever arm 1() within the catch member 12 do not constitute the present invention, and a detailed description of said cam member is unnecessary. It may be stated that when said cam member 14 is turned to a predetermined point in its range of rotary movement it will engage the side portion of the lever arm 10, holding said lever arm 10 tightly in position within the catch member 12. When said cam member 14 has been struck a blow, however, and moved to another portion of its range of rotation, the lever arm 10 will be free to move out from under the catch member 12 to perform its ratcheting functions.

The pawl 7, as noted above, is biased by means of the weighted end 9 into a position in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 5. It will be clear from an inspection of Figure 3 that movement of the lever arm 10 in af-'counterclockwise direction will result in the engagement of pawl 7 with theteeth of the ratchet wheel 5, communicating a counterclockwise rotation to the shaft 4,

which counterclockwise rotation will wind up the chains 3 3 to close the dump door 2. Reciprocation of' the lever arm 10 will result in the progressive movement of the door 2 toward closing position, reverse movement being controlled by mechanism which will now be described.

According to the present invention, means are provided for holding the shaft 4 inthe position to which it may be moved by the pawl 7. Referring to Figure 4, it will be noted that the shaft 4 is provided with a detent member 16 provided with teeth 17 17 on the one side thereof and the teeth 18-18 on the other side thereof, said teeth 17 and 18 being in staggered 'relation to each other. Said detent member 16 is adaptedA to have cooperation with the yoke member 19 pivoted to a stationary part of the car, which yoke 19 has the two arms 20 20 straddling the detent member 16. The teeth 17-17 on the one side of the detent member 16 and the teeth 18 18 on the other side of said detent member `16 have abutment faces lying in planes substantially parallel with the axis of the shaft 4. Said abutment faces are indicated by the numeral 21 and are adapted to cooperate with the arms 20-20 of the yoke member 19 to prevent accidental rotation of the shaft 4. The

arms 20-20 of the yoke member 19 are spaced apart a suiicient distance to clear the teeth on one side of the detent member 16 when in operative relationship with the teeth on the opposite side of said detent member 16. By reason of this construction, a step-by-step releasing of movement of the detent member 16 and consequently of the shaft 4 may ,be readily accomplished by communicating an oscillating movement to the yoke 19. F or this purpose the yoke 19 is provided with a recess 22 for the reception of a bar or other implement whereby the yoke member 19 may be oscillated by an attendant. The faces of the teeth 17 17 and 18-18 opposite to the surfaces 21 are inclined relative to the axis of the shaft 4, whereby when the shaft 4 is turned in a direction to wind up the chains 3 3 said inclined faces will engage the arms 20 2U of the yoke 19 to communicate an oscillating movement thereto, whereby said yoke 19 will not interfere with the operation of the ratchet wheel 5 in operating the shaft 4 to wind up the chains 3 3. It will be clear from the above that when the lever arm 10 is reciprocated to communicate a ratchet movement to the shaft 4 the yoke 19 will be oscillated by reason of the successive engagement of the inclined faces 23 of the teeth on the two sides of detent member 16v with the two yoke arms 20 20. Upon the completion of each ratcheting stroke, one or the other of the yoke arms will be in position to abut the square face 21 of one of the teeth- 17 or 18, whereby to prevent the unwinding of the chains 3 3A The ratchet member is, therefore, not relied upon to hold the dump door 2 in the position to which it has been moved, the detent member 16 and yoke member 19 being relied upon for this purpose.

After the lever arm 10 has performed its function of rotating the shaft 4 to wind up the chains 3 3, the lever arm 10 should be moved to the position shown in Figure 1 alongside of the wall 1 of the car. Until'the lever arm 10 is moved to said unobtrusive position, said arm will occupy an angular position, as indicated in Figure 3, in which said arm '10 will occupy an obtrusive lposition which will at once attract the attention of the train attendants. It will be a simple matter, of course, before lading is applied to the door 2 to release the pawl 7 from the ratchet wheel 5 and' to locate the lever arm 10 within the catch member 12, after which the cam member 14 may be moved to holding position. For the purpose of automatically moving the pawl 7 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 5, the present invention contemplates the use of a posltive abutment, indicated as an angle bearing the numeral 24. When the lever arm 10 is moved up into engagement with ico the side wall 1 of the car,vthe operating end of the pawl 7 will engage with'the extremity of angle 24, pgsitively moving said pawl 7 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 5. The movement of the lever arm 10 from obtrusive to unobtrusive position will result, therefore, in the automatic release of pawl 7 from the ratchet wheel 5; It will be clear that when. lading is applied to the dump doors 2, the force applied to said doors will be carried by the detent member 16 and the yoke member 19, no part of said force being required to be taken by the pawl 7. When it is desired, therefore, to release the corresponding dump door 2, no manipulation of the pawl 7 is required, inasmuch as such manipulation had been automatically accomplished when the lever arm 10 was moved to its inoperative position immediately after the closing of the corresponding. dump door 2 and before the application of lading to said dump door. The opening of the corresponding dump door is readily accomplished by manipulation of the yoke 19 with an oscillating movement, said oscillating movement being communicated to the member 19 by means of a bar or other implement located within the recess 22.

By reason of the present invention, therefore, diiiiculties which are new encountered in releasing the ratchet member, in case an operator has forgotten to release said ratchet mechanism, are overcome. Releasing of the ratchetv mechanism is automatically accomplished when the lever arm 10 is moved to its inoperative or unobtrusive position adjacent to the car Wall 1. For allpractical purposes, therefore, insurance is had against the inconvenience of a loaded ratchet mechanism when the car is carrying lading.

Though a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, it will be cl'ear that many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is intended to cover all such modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. Ratchet mechanism for railway dumpl cars, comprising a ratchet wheel, a pawl.y

for operating said wheel, a lever pivotally supporting `said pawl, and a relatively stationary abutment member for engaging said pawl to release same from said ratchet wheel when said leveris moved to a predetermined position.

2. In a railway dump car, in combination,

for holding said operating means in inoperative position, and relatively stationary means adapted to engage said pawl to rewhen said operating mechanism is moved toward said catch means.

3. In a railway dump car, in combination, a car wall, an operating shaft, a dump door, means connecting said shaft with said dump door, a ratchet member on said shaft, operating means for said ratchet member, said operating means including a pawl adapted to have engagement with said ratchet member, catch means mounted upon said car Wall for holding said operating means in inoperative position, relatively stationary means adapted to engage said pawl to release same from said ratchet mechanism when said operating mechanism is moved toward said catch means, and a cam member for positively holding said operating means within said catch means.

4. In a railway dump car, in combination, a dump door, a shaft, means for connecting said shaft to said dump door, ratchet mechanism for turning said shaft to close said dump door, detent mechanism for holding said shaft against rotation but permitting a step-by-step opening movement of said door, said ratchet mechanism including an operating lever, means for holding. said lever in unobtrusive position, and means stationarily mounted upon said car for disconnecting said ratchet mechanism when said operating lever is moved into engagement with said lever holding member. A

5. In a railway dump car, an operating shaft, ratchet means for operating said shaft, detentl means for controlling the reverse movement of said shaft, means for holding said ratchet mechanism in unobtrusive inoperative position, and means cooper-- atin with said ratchet mechanism for posi tive y throwing same into inoperative position when said ratchet mechanism is moved to unobtrusive position.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 7th 'day of November, 1924.

DAVID `I-IINDAHL.

llease same from said ratchet mechanism' 

